Fallen trees, damaged homes, a toppled 85-foot windmill — McHenry County, other areas deal with aftermath of storms, high winds

Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune

Alec Baron throws branches from a tree damaged in a storm into a wood chipper outside a home at Second and South Church streets in Huntley on Sept. 26, 2018.

Alec Baron throws branches from a tree damaged in a storm into a wood chipper outside a home at Second and South Church streets in Huntley on Sept. 26, 2018. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

Matthew Walberg, Katie Galioto, Liam FordChicago Tribune

Vince Nuccio was folding laundry Tuesday in the upstairs bedroom of his home in Huntley when he decided to make a quick trip to the nearby CVS store to pick up a prescription.

By the time he got back, a fast-moving, wind-packed thunderstorm had roared through the area and a large branch from an oak tree — about 18 inches in diameter — had ripped a hole about 4 feet by 2 feet wide in his roof, leaving a sharp spear of the splintered limb dangling above his bed.

“(The branch) was about a foot off my bed, right where I’d been standing,” said Nuccio, 50, who lives in the 11600 block of Second Street.

It was then that he realized how a seemingly minor decision to run an errand might have saved his life.

“Fortunately I went out,” he said. “Where I was ... it would have probably gone in my right shoulder and pierced right through me.”

Nuccio’s home was one of several damaged in McHenry County and elsewhere in northern Illinois when the severe storms with winds reported as high as 70 mph hit. As many as 65,000 ComEd customers lost power because of the storm. By Wednesday afternoon, the number was down to 3,200.

Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune; Vince Nuccio

Two photos show an oak tree branch that crashed through the home and hangs over Vince Nuccio's bed in the 11600 block of Second Street in Huntley on Sept. 26, 2018. "(The branch) was about a foot off my bed, right where I'd been standing," Nuccio said.

Two photos show an oak tree branch that crashed through the home and hangs over Vince Nuccio's bed in the 11600 block of Second Street in Huntley on Sept. 26, 2018. "(The branch) was about a foot off my bed, right where I'd been standing," Nuccio said. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune; Vince Nuccio)

At least eight homes in Huntley were affected, along with about a half-dozen in Lake in the Hills, one in Algonquin and a few in Cary, according to David Christensen, director of the McHenry County Emergency Management Agency.

All of the homes were damaged by falling trees, but only one home in Huntley was rendered uninhabitable, Christensen said. There were no reports of fires caused by downed electrical lines. And there were a few reports of limited street flooding throughout the area.

There were no reports of injury or death caused by the storm, Christensen said.

Nuccio said he had to pull over on the drive back from the pharmacy because it was too difficult to see where he was going, and then had to park a couple of blocks from his home and pick his way on foot through the downed trees.

“My son was home at the time. He said he went to the front door and said he really couldn’t see outside because it was coming down so hard,” Nuccio said. “He told me he felt the house shake.”

Huntley village officials late Wednesday morning said the most significant damage appears to be in and near the downtown area, though other damage was reported elsewhere in town, officials said. The village called in all available workers Tuesday night to deal with issues that arose from the storm. Municipal workers from Rolling Meadows and McHenry on Wednesday were assisting Huntley crews with removal of debris from roads and sidewalks.

The storm took down a massive old farm windmill at Tom’s Farm Market and Greenhouses in Huntley, narrowly missing the owner’s daughter.

“It was right around 4:45, maybe 5. My golden retriever, Bear, was outside and she was afraid,” said Tom Halat. “So my daughter wanted to get her in the greenhouse. She walked right past (the windmill), and a couple seconds later the windmill broke and blew down.”

Meanwhile, Halat, 73, said he was driving his Chevy pickup back to the farm from another location where the family grows produce but had to stop because it was unsafe to continue through the storm.

“The rain was so torrential, I couldn’t even see the road,” Halat said. “Then I felt my pickup truck moving sideways and then forward a little bit. At first I thought there was something wrong with the brakes. The wind pushed me to almost the other side of the road. That was really eerie.”

Halat says the windmill — which dates to the 1920s — was the tallest in McHenry County at 85 feet and that it has been one of his favorite parts of the farm since he bought it in 1976.

“It just looks so beautiful here, that windmill sticking out — you can see it from almost a mile away,” he said. “This morning I took a good look at it. At first I thought the midsection could be straightened out, but the more I look at it, I’m not so sure, unfortunately.”

Halat said he plans to have a windmill specialist look at the crumpled structure.

“If he thinks part of it’s repairable, we’ll repair it,” he said. “And if not, we’re going to find a way to build it. It’s just nostalgia on my farm.”

According to the National Weather Service, the line of storms that hit northern Illinois and northwest Indiana between 3 and 8 p.m. Tuesday had two “focused” areas of wind.

The first went through these counties: Ogle, northern DeKalb, northern Kane, southern McHenry, far northern Cook and southern Lake, the weather service said.

A second line moved in Lee and LaSalle counties and weakened before reaching the far southern Chicago area, but it still had 40-plus mph wind gusts before reintensifying in northwest Indiana, the weather service said.

Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune

Alec Baron clears branches from a tree damaged in a storm outside a home in Huntley on Sept 26, 2018.

Alec Baron clears branches from a tree damaged in a storm outside a home in Huntley on Sept 26, 2018. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

Trees and power lines were reported down in areas including north suburban Libertyville, Mundelein and Gurnee; west suburban Aurora and Villa Park; and northwest suburban Algonquin, Hampshire and Huntley, according to the weather service.